Unconventional Orphan
by Pica Britanica
Summary: Just something I had to write. One evening a bedraggled Scipio turns up on Ida's doorstep, this is the story of the events that followed. AU, because it wouldn't make sense otherwise.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is something that just wouldn't leave me alone this week. I had to get it down. There are two chapters to it, the night, and the morning after. As always I must state that I don't own any of the Thief Lord in any shape or form. Enjoy, and please leave a review. :)**

Ida had been working late again; she sat in the kitchen with her cup of cooling coffee and closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the heavy beat of rain on the windows. There was a faint knock at the door, her eyes flew open and she looked in the direction of the noise. A bedraggled figure stood on the other side; she stood up and walked over to it, unlocked it and then opened it. "Scipio?" she said quietly.

Scipio sniffed and brushed his wet hair from his eyes, "Hi… can I come in?" he asked. He looked frozen, poor thing. Ida stood back and let him pass; she shut the door behind him. She took a moment to take a better look at him; he was soaked to the bone and had a black rucksack over his shoulder.

"Everything alright?" she asked, watching the shivering boy. Scipio shook his head, but said nothing. He was stood in the shadow of the fridge, and still had his hood up. Ida sighed, "Would you like a drink or something?"

Scip nodded, "Thanks."

Ida turned to the cupboard and grabbed a mug, "Is coffee okay? I've just brewed a pot." Scipio made a non-committal noise behind which she took as a yes. She poured the steaming coffee into the cup and turned back to Scipio, "You can sit down you know. Do you take milk and sugar?"

"Just milk please." Scipio murmured, he hesitated before moving into the beam of light from the window. Ida gasped and almost dropped the cup when she saw the almighty bruise on Scipio's face.

"What happened?" she asked, placing the cup down and moving across the room. She placed a hand on Scipio's cheek and tilted his head slightly to get a better look. "Scipio?"

"It's nothing!" Scipio insisted, brushing away her hand. He pulled his hood down and turned away sat down at the table. He grabbed the coffee and took a swig, "Please Ida, just leave it."

"Scipio," Ida sighed, she sat down across from him. "Who did that?" Scipio shook his head. Ida had an awful thought, "Did your father do that?" Scipio's eyes flashed up at her and then away again. Tears trickled down his cheeks. "Oh Scipio, sweetheart." Ida sighed; she stood up and wrapped the frozen shivering boy in her arms.

"Please, can I just stay here for the night. I'll go first thing in the morning; I just can't go back there right now." Scipio pleaded.

"Of course, stay as long as you like."

"Thanks." Scipio sighed and covered his face with his hands; Ida shook her head and walked through to the living room. She pulled some blankets from the corner and placed them on the sofa. She made her way back into the kitchen and found Scipio crying at the table.

She said nothing but pulled him into another hug, he was still icy cold and sodden. "Do you have anything to change into? You'll catch a cold in those." she asked.

Scipio nodded and gestured to his bag "There're some clothes in that."

Ida smiled and pulled him up, "Go change then. Have a shower if you need to, don't worry about waking them lot, they won't hear you."

Scipio smiled and stood up, "Thanks Ida, I don't know what I'd do without you." He made his way quietly up the stairs and into the bathroom. Ida watched him leave.

There was a quiet cough at the door, "Who's in the bathroom?" Victor asked, he brushed a hand through his hair and sat down in the same seat that Scipio had just been sat in.

"Scipio." Ida said blankly.

Victor frowned, "Scipio? What's he doing here?"

Ida shook her head, "He's run away from home. God, Victor you should see the state he was in."

Victor sighed and glanced in the direction of the bathroom, "Do you want me to stay with him?"

"No, you go back to bed; I'll make sure he's okay." Ida smiled, she lightly kissed him on the cheek and shooed him off upstairs. She sat down and sighed again. She was glad she'd finished all her work before she had made that coffee earlier.

A few minutes later Scipio padded back down the stairs in his pyjamas. Ida looked up from her now cold coffee and smiled, "I'd suggest a cold compress for that bruise but I think I'm a little late for that."

Scipio gave her a brief smile and ran a hand through his damp hair, "Thanks for the offer though." he said.

"Don't mention it, come on, you can sleep on the couch for tonight, and if you need to stay any longer I can make up the spare bed in Prop's room." Ida took his hand and led him into the living room. She waited for him to settle down before leaving him to sleep, just as she was about to leave however, she noticed the thin red line just emerging from the neck of his t-shirt. She gently pulled the material away and saw that the line ran all the way down his back and wasn't the only line. Her hand flew to her mouth in horror; the lines looked like they had been made with a belt.

She choked back a sob and brushed his dark hair out of his face, he looked so peaceful when he was asleep. With a sigh Ida turned and made her way upstairs to her room, where Victor was sat waiting for her, "Is he alright?" he asked as he patted the bed next to him.

"Not really, but he'll get through it. How can people do things like that to their own children?" Ida said, more to herself than anyone else.

Victor shook his head, "I don't know love, but don't fret about it now. He's safe downstairs, and the others'll like having him around for a while."

Ida smiled, "Yeah, I suppose… I just wish there was something else we could do."

Victor planted a kiss on her forehead, "Get some sleep now; you'll be no use to anyone if you're tired." Ida nodded and closed her eyes, while Victor smiled and turned over. Soon, the only sound that could be heard was the muffled sobs of a young boy, curled up on the sofa in the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A note to all of you lovely people out there. Well, more an apology really. I've been unable to upload things for a while due to my internet dying on me. However as you can probably tell, I now have internet again. :) Oh and this chapter is sort of from Prop's point of view.**

**Any way... On with the story**

Prosper woke to the smell of frying bacon. He rubbed his eyes and thought for a moment about turning over and going back to sleep, but his stomach seemed to dislike this idea and protested loudly. So instead of getting a few minutes more rest, Prop dragged himself out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen, "Morning." he mumbled as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured in some water.

"Morning Prop, sleep well?" Ida asked from the cooker.

"Not bad, you?"

"I've had better sleeps." Ida smiled as she handed Prop a plate, "Get what you want honey, I'll be back in a second." She picked up another plate, already loaded with food and took it into the living room. Prop thought for a moment before following her and abandoning all thought of food, he stood in the doorway and watched as Ida made her way over to the sofa and began murmuring to someone laid just out of sight on the couch. Prop moved around to get a better look, "Scip?" he said puzzled. He looked at his friend for a moment, he looked so pathetic. His eye was swollen and badly bruised, it looked worse because his normally quite tanned skin was pale and clammy.

Ida glanced up at Prop before trying again to wake the teenager, "Scipio, time to get up." she murmured, gently shaking his shoulder. Scip's eyes flickered open and he ran a hand over his face, he looked up at Ida and saw the plate of food in her other hand. Ida smiled and handed it to him, "Here, eat up." she told him.

Scipio took the food gratefully, "Thanks," he said as he crammed food into his mouth. For a posh boy he was a real pig, Prop thought. It took Scipio to realise there was someone else in the room; he glanced in Prosper's direction and then took a second look. He almost choked on a piece of toast when he realised who it was. "Prop!" he exclaimed, wiping butter from his cheek.

"Hey," Prop nodded in greeting, "When did you get here?" he asked as he shoved Scip's long legs out of the way and sat down.

"Last night." Scip said, suddenly fascinated by his plate. He was avoiding eye contact, never a good sign.

Prop sighed and ran a hand over his face, "What happened?" he asked bluntly.

Scipio cringed and shook his head violently. "Just forget it Prop, it's nothing." He stood up, but Prop's hand on his arm made him stop in his tracks.

"Please Scip, come on."

Scipio closed his eyes and let out a long shaky breath, "It was my fault. I shouldn't have…" His voice vanished completely.

Prop sighed again, "Was it him?"

Scipio glanced at Prosper with tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. He looked away quickly and swiped at the hot tears which threatened to spill over.

"Scipio!" a small voice from the door exclaimed. They all spun around to find Bo stood in the doorway; he ran across the room and launched himself at Scip. "What are you doing here?" he asked gleefully.

"Just came to check up on you all, can't have anything happening to my trusty cohorts can I?" Scipio grinned; all trace of the scared young boy from moments ago vanished. He pulled Bo off him and ruffled his hair.

Bo, being a six year old, was never very tactful, "What happened to your face?" he asked.

Scipio froze, unsure what to say. His smile faltered for a moment before he decided on an answer. "I got into a fight, all sorted now though." He looked up at Prosper, silently pleading him not to press the matter any further.

Prop let his shoulders drop in defeat, there was no way he was willing to put his friend through the torment of relaying the events of the previous night. Instead he sank back into the sofa and watched as Scipio listened to Bo's wild stories. Scipio seemed a lot less fearful when he was speaking to the youngster.

That is, until a hammering at the door woke the whole household. Ida placed her book on the arm of her chair and made her way to the door. Muffled voices could be heard from in the kitchen, and Scipio paled when he suddenly recognised the other voice. He stumbled back a step and glanced at Prop, "It's him!" he whispered.

Prosper bit his lip, "Maybe we should-"

His sentence was cut off by Scipio's father shoved his way into the room. "You have no right to be in here!" Ida was saying as she followed him in hurriedly.

"Scipio!" the Dottore said as he held out a hand to his son, "Stop this nonsense and come home."

Scipio was frozen to the spot; he was shaking like a leaf and had gone drip white. Ida spoke for him, "He's not going anywhere with you. Now I suggest you leave before I call the police."

The commotion had drawn a crowd as the rest of the house gathered in the living room; Victor made his way over to the adults by the door. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave Dottore," he said in a polite but firm tone.

The Dottore sniffed at this and turned again to his son, "Scipio." he warned. When Scipio still didn't move he lost his patience, "Scipio, you come here right now or I swear I'll-"

"You'll do nothing but get out of our house!" Ida snapped. The Dottore spun to face her in surprise. "If you dare touch this young man again I promise you, you will be hearing from the police." she said as she made her way over to Scipio. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Now leave!"

The Dottore stood silent for a moment, before launching himself across the room at Scipio. Scip managed to shove Ida out of the way before his father landed heavily on top of him. There was a struggle to gain control of the situation but Victor eventually managed to pull the Dottore off Scipio.

Scipio pulled himself up and took a deep breath, "I never want to see you again." he snarled at his father, "Get out."

His father looked astonished at this obvious disobedience, he had believed that he had brought Scipio up 'correctly', but apparently he was wrong.

"You will live to regret this Scipio, mark my words. No son of mine behaves like this and gets away with it!"

"So?" Bo piped up from the corner of the room, "Scipio doesn't want to be your son anyway!"

A smile lit Scipio's face, "You heard him; I'm no longer your son, now you don't have to worry about me being a nuisance anymore. You can leave now."

Without another word, Dottore Massimo turned and stormed out of the house, slamming the door in a most childish fashion. As soon as he had gone, the room erupted.

"Scipio, are you alright?"

"What happened?"

"I can't believe you did that!"

"Ha! Did you see his face?"

"Is there anything for breakfast?"

Scipio smiled weakly and sat down. He was still shaking violently and suddenly all his previous energy had evaporated. He looked up and saw that everyone had gone silent; apparently someone had asked him a question. "Sorry, what?" he asked.

"Where will you go now? You can't go back there." Riccio said.

Scipio thought about this for a moment, "I could go back to the Stella…"

"You will stay here, with us. Where you belong." Ida smiled as she wrapped him in a hug.

"Thank you." Scipio whispered in her ear, he looked around at the people gathered in the room, "I guess I have a real family now." he laughed. They spent the rest of the morning arguing over where Scipio would sleep, but he didn't care much at all. He was just relieved. He could be himself again, no more pretending to please his father, no more hiding everything. He could be just Scipio.

Well, not_ just_ Scipio…

**A/N: As always, reviews are much appreciated and cherished.  
><strong>**Mags**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I wasn't going to add any more to this story, but I felt like it needed a nice epilogue, I like epilogues... they make me happy, like reviews *hint hint***

_Dottore Massimo stormed into Scip's room, gripping him by the arm so tightly Scipio knew he was going to get a bruise. He hadn't let go since he slammed the front door in Riccio's face. Scipio struggled against his tears; he refused to let his father see him cry! He held back hot tears as his father's nails bit into his skin. He was glad he'd thrown on that jumper now. The Dottore practically threw Scipio across the room before silently shutting the door behind him, Scipio scrambled to his feet and clamped his fists to his side, he was shaking._

"_I had such high hopes for you Scipio." The Dottore finally said, "Such high hopes." _

_Scipio stepped back against the wall, and looked down at the floor._

"_You never do want I tell you, do you?" his father sighed, shaking his head. He walked closer to his terrified son, "You're so selfish sometimes, a selfish, stupid little boy." He snarled as he slapped Scipio across the cheek._

_Scipio cried out as his head smashed into the wall behind him, "Father!" he pleaded, "Father, I'm sorry." _

_His pleas fell on deaf ears as Dottore Massimo grabbed a fistful of Scip's hair and forced him to the ground, "You never learn, do you? You little imbecile!" He placed a foot firmly in the small of Scipio's back and reached for a nearby belt hanging from the wardrobe door. _

_Scipio saw the belt in his father's hand and began to writhe and scream, "Father I'm sorry, please don't! I'm sorry!" he begged as he tried and failed to free himself from his father's hold. He felt the material of his shirt being forced up his back. He doubled his efforts to escape._

"_Be still boy!" his father ordered. Scipio instantly complied, for a moment the only noise to be heard was Scipio's panicked breathing. "I have always been good to you Scipio, haven't I? I don't understand why you feel it necessary to act this way, it's really most un-gentlemanly." The Dottore said calmly, his voice no more than a whisper._

_Scipio heard the belt whistle through the air and – _

Scip woke with a cry; he clamped a hand over his mouth and looked around wildly. It took him a moment to recognise the room he shared with Prop. He sat up and leant against the wall, the cool pressure easing the pain that had flared up there again. He sat for a minute, trying to calm his erratic breathing, his eyes closed to block out all the light from the window.

"Scip?" a voice from across the room broke Scip from his thoughts; Prop was now sat up watching Scipio in the darkness.

"Hey, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Scip whispered.

"Nightmares?" Prop asked, shifting into a more comfortable position.

Scip sighed, "Yeah…"

"Same one?"

Scipio nodded, and then realised it might be difficult to see a nod in the dark, "Yeah." He'd had the same nightmare for what felt like an eternity. Always that night, the night his father had beaten him for the first time. The first night of the torture that had led to Scipio living with Ida and Victor and the gang at the Casa Spavento.

He'd been living with them for three months now; it wasn't too bad, much simpler than the life he was used to. Ida only had one rule, in for tea at six. Other than that, she left it to the kids to sort out.

A disgruntled mewling from the bottom of Scipio's bed caught his attention; he leant over and picked up the small black kitten he had bought off the woman down the street. "Sorry Aurora, didn't see you there baby." he murmured, scratching her little ears.

"What does it mean again?" Prop said, sleepily.

"Aurora? It means dawn."

"Are you going to be okay?" Prop asked, worry evident in his voice.

"Eventually, probably." Scipio answered quietly.

"What about tonight?"

Scip smiled, "I'll be fine Prop, go to sleep." He lay down and looked at the small collection of pictures that was growing on their wall.

The smiling faces of his family looked back at him; he reached out and touched one of them, it was Scipio surrounded by his wonderful family, on the day Ida and Victor had won the adoption case. Aurora scampered across the bed and sat in front of Scip's face, blocking his view of the pictures. "Come on then little one." Scip laughed, patting the bed next to him. Aurora looked pleased with herself as she curled up against Scip's chest and fell asleep.

Scipio smiled; things were going to be okay. He had his new dawn, his _novell'aurora_.


End file.
